Bed cost barney in Victoria

What it costs to provide a new acute care bed in a Victorian hospital apparently depends very much on who is giving the price.

Bed numbers are part of the currency of health debate and their cost is now at the centre of a political contest following Opposition Leader
Ted Baillieu
’s promise over the weekend to spend $1 billion of pokies revenue on health infrastructure.

With that amount of money Mr Baillieu said he could provide 2500 additional beds at about $400,000 per bed.

This was immediately challenged by Health Minister
Daniel Andrews
who claimed the cost of providing a new acute care bed is $1 million.

The opposition though is sticking to its guns.

So who is correct? A Department of Health spokesman said the $1 million per bed figure was the cost of a new bed in a new hospital.

It took account of the need to provide ancillary services such as operating theatres, air-conditioning plant and laundries on top of the physical ward space, he said.

Perhaps that explained why the government estimates are far higher than those provided by the Australian Medical Association which seem closer to the opposition’s calculus.